Maundy Thursday in Granada - Fraternities and Processions

If Holy Wednesday is a big day for the people of the Realejo, Maundy Thursday is certainly the Albaycín´s special day,
when thousands of people fill its narrow and winding streets looking for the best spot to watch these cofradías.

Amazing, indeed, is the work of the costaleros carrying Nuestro Padre Jesús del Perdón and María Santísima de la
Aurora through the neighbourhood. They leave San Miguel Bajo church at 17:45.

And, at 16:30, from the Monastery de la Concepción comes another spectacular procession: the Virgen de la Concepción,
called "la Concha".

It is a unique experience to feel the atmosphere of this old neighborhood, and it is also very special to see all
these processions coming back to their churches in the early hours of the morning.

The procession of María Santísima de la Estrella and Nuestro Padre Jesús de la Pasión, climbing the very steep
Cuesta de la Alhacaba at around 00:30 to return to the church of San Cristóbal at the very top of the Albaycín,
is truly overwhelming.

And the last procession to parade on Maundy Thursday is a very curious one: the Silencio. At the stroke of midnight,
from the parish church by the Carrera del Darro, this beautiful icon made by José de Mora in the seventeenth century
parades through the streets of Granada accompanied only by drumbeats.

There are no processional marches, only the sound of footsteps of the costaleros; no festive atmosphere, only one of
penitance and silence. All lights are extinguished on its way.